Seed potatoes from Britain are known world-wide for their high health, high quality status and the team from AHDB Potatoes were on the GB seed and science stand at this month’s international trade and technical event, Potato Europe.
AHDB Potatoes exhibit at this key event each year to provide a high-profile marketing and networking platform for GB seed exporters and related science organisations. This year’s eye-catching and newly-branded stand showcased varieties and expertise from organisations such as Greenvale, Cygnet PEP, Skea Organics, Sutton Bridge Crop Storage Research, James Hutton Ltd, Scottish Government, IPM Potatoes and Cullen Allen.
Many international visitors were able to familiarise themselves with the new AHDB branding, launched this June, with the GB stand welcoming hundreds of international visitors over the two-day event. Exhibitors on the GB stand were kept busy throughout the two days and reported a productive event once again.
This year’s event was hosted by Fedagrim in Tournai, a key potato-growing region in Belgium and where well over nine thousand potato growers and trade gathered to discuss varieties, growing, harvesting, machinery, processing and much more besides.
A regular exhibitor, Greenvale AP, has its own breeding partnership, growing, storage, packing and seed export business with bases in Scotland. Greenvale’s General Manager in Scotland, Gordon Stark reported, “We attend this event every year. It’s vital for us to maintain our high profile with the international potato community and we see new people each time, as well as keeping in touch with existing contacts and friends.”
Visitors were also able to enjoy tasty cooked samples of GB varieties, supplied by the exhibitors and cooked freshly on the stand. GB varieties that were available to taste this year included ‘Emily’, ‘Highland Burgundy Red’, ‘Jester’, ‘Majestic’ and ‘Salad Blue’, and details of all GB-certified varieties and contacts can be found on the Potato Variety Database: potato.org.uk/varieties
The international potato and horticulture communities will see AHDB Potatoes and AHDB Horticulture exhibiting together alongside leading GB potato and horticulture organisations at next February’s Fruit Logistica event in Berlin (3-5 February 2016).
